Chapter 2: Rootie Tooties Thanksgiving PartySteve Carlin knew he had a hit, especially when NBC wanted him to plan out a 3 hour special to air over thanksgiving to called ROOTIE TOOTIE’S THANKSGIVING PARTY to air locally on WNBT on Nov 23rd between 12noon and 3pm.
The show included a live Chicago hookup to puppet guests Kulka Fran and Ollie, and Jon Gnagy, the learn-to-draw-at-home artist was on hand; Ted Mack and the Anauter Hour, Skitch Henderson, Kathie Norris, Lisa & Jinx , Ed Herihy and the Hornett Hardett kids, song writer Irving Caesar, an RCA kids western recording artist Texas Jim Robertson and the loveable emcees Todd Russell among others. The most impressive event would be a reading by Eleanor Roosevelt, with a message to the youth of America written by the late president Franklin D. Roosevelt. ROOTIE-Boy GeniusAs the camera pans over the audience to the kids and parents singing , the opening thyeme song, tou can see there playing to a packed house.
The first of what would be the shows standard bits following the opening theyme song singalong, is Rootie pulling down a screen that says ‘BOY GENIUS’, then revealing a new set or a special hat that will give Big Tod an idea of what song they’ll sing together. This show has Rootie bringing out two pilgrams hats as he a Tod sing “Gabby the Gobbler “ and “Pass The Peace Pipe, teaching kids, what the indians do if there mad, are stand out tunes, lively, fun, and show you how well Rootie & Tod work together.
It might have been alittle easyier writing this special as it was to produce it, as other Carlin original scripts of the Rootie Tootie Club shows, reveal that on November 9, the same gimicks & songs were used, including a real Indian dance, using kids from the Rootie Kazootie Gallery, on stage. SPONSORSApart from the live performances, singalongs, contests and games, were the ways the show smoothly tied the sponsors into the show like RCA VICTOR during the live commercial breaks.
Just before an RCA spokesperson would walk out to explain the funcitions of there latest television set or radio, a scene was set up down stage with a situation of a family at home watching the program on a RCA Television, sitting by a coach. In this case a boy dressed with a Indian headdress, is finshing watching Rooties Indian number, and commenting how wonderful it was to see real indians, but his parents want to watch one of there shows now, what to do?
Well what better opportunity for the RCA spokesperson to come out and agree with the boy, that its time to buy the kids there own Television. What else RCA Victor. All the guest stars continued to be from RCA list of recording kids talent as Lisa Kirk, sang the Trolley Song from the hit Broadway play “Kiss Me Kate”.
There western artists were Rosalie Allen singing “Yodellin Bird” & Texas Jim Robertson, dressed in his Cowboy garb and six shooter sang “The Chuck Wagon Song”, Rosalie Allen Other tunes that day included “Crawdad Hole” -sung by Jim and Rosalie, “Darktown Strutters Ball” -sung by Wee Willie Smith,” A Boy Named Lem and A Girl Named Sue”- from the broadway play EASY DOES IT).
By the end of the year, NBC was considering moving the show into their regular line-up and graduating the shows from local to network in the New Year. NEXT: The show's name is changed to The Rootie Kazootie Club You’ll find that most of my discoveries in the world of Television & Advertising commercials have come slowly over the last 20 years, and have been made available to be transferred to video, and now digital formats, for scholars and future generations to study and learn from. |
